So I have this friend – we’ve never actually met, (thanks social media and the number of “real” friends my husband has all over the country, I have many friends that I can say that about).  But she’s married to a friend of ours from here and they live out on the east coast and watching their story unfold has been a beautiful thing to witness.  God threw them some major curve balls early on, but the grace with which they have handled it, has encouraged and strengthened my faith and the faith of countless others.

Last week she posted a challenge on her blog (found here – go read it!) to grab our cameras and take photos of our real “rearranged life” – no staging, no cleaning up, just real life.  And as I try to make the camera (not just the iPhone) a part of my life again, I loved it.  And what better way to celebrate the messy-beauty of life than to make art out of it?

So, this is my SUV.

This precious vehicle has gotten us safely around town and around the country for over eight years now.  She’s been faithful and true, but she’s started to show her age recently and the fact that she’s driven by a family that doesn’t always prioritize car cosmetics.

Front corner:

Back corner:

Other back corner:

A couple of weeks ago all of the dings, dents, and scratches were really, really getting to me, to the point that I called the body shop to see what it would cost to get some of it fixed.  And after hanging up I had to have a talk with God about my pride and attitude and choosing to just.give.thanks.

And, in what would seem to be a firm period on the week of wrestling through my car-vanity, driving home that Friday night, some random piece of debris (a small branch maybe?) flew out of the enclosed trailer in front of us on the highway and left a lovely new dent in the hood of my truck – on the one corner that was still undented.  God’s funny sometimes and you just have to learn to laugh along with Him.  🙂

What unexpected beauty is God working in your life right now?

For His Glory~